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Background Infomation
After George Kennan's "Long Telegram" which outlined clearly a plausible need for alarm by the US Government through his interpretation of the Soviet threat, Soviet Ambassador Nikolai Novikov was asked to present his own response to the Soviet Government. Novikov composed a telegram comparable to Kennan's in length as well as necessity of action by the Soviet Government. Novikov counters Kennan's claims that Soviet policy intends to spread with a clear depiction of the Truman Administration as one that intends to proliferate American military, political, and economic dominance throughout the entire world.1 Novikov portrays the United States as an imperial power in conflict with Soviet and Russian ideals. Additionally, he criticizes United States involvement of WWII as cowardly, suggesting that the United States waited to enter the war until victory was simple and the US could look heroic. Novikov suggests that this position in the war allowed the US to get lucky, becoming a major world power only because of the minimal damage obtained by a late entrance into the war.
Primary Source Document - Excerpt from a telegram sent by Soviet Ambassador Nikolai Novikov from Washington to Soviet Leadership in September 1946.
The foreign policy of the United States, which reflects the imperialist tendencies of American monopolistic capital, is characterized in the postwar period by a striving for world supremacy. This is the real meaning of the many statements by President Truman and other representatives of American ruling circles; that the United States has the right to lead the world. All the forces of American diplomacy -- the army, the air force, the navy, industry, and science -- are enlisted in the service of this foreign policy. For this purpose broad plans for expansion have been developed and are being implemented through diplomacy and the establishment of a system of naval and air bases stretching far beyond the boundaries of the United States, through the arms race, and through the creation of ever newer types of weapons. . . .
During the Second World War . . . [American leaders] calculated that the United States of America, if it could avoid direct participation in the war, would enter it only at the last minute, when it could easily affect the outcome of the war, completely ensuring its interests. In this regard, it was thought that the main competitors of the United States would be crushed or greatly weakened in the war, and the United States by virtue of this circumstance would assume the role of the most powerful factor in resolving the fundamental questions of the postwar world. |
Novikov appeared in LIFE magazine in 1945
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Document Analysis Questions
1. How might Novikov's telegram have contributed to the start of the Cold War?
2. Compare Novikov's telegram with the "Long Telegram" by George Kennan. How do the aims of the two documents compare? What techniques does each ambassador use to make his argument convincing? Use textual evidence to support your answer.
3. Comparing this telegram with the "Long Telegram," do the US and USSR appear more alike or different? Defend your response.
2. Compare Novikov's telegram with the "Long Telegram" by George Kennan. How do the aims of the two documents compare? What techniques does each ambassador use to make his argument convincing? Use textual evidence to support your answer.
3. Comparing this telegram with the "Long Telegram," do the US and USSR appear more alike or different? Defend your response.
Sources Referenced
1. Novikov, Nikolai. TELEGRAM FROM NIKOLAI NOVIKOV, SOVIET AMBASSADOR TO THE US, TO THE SOVIET LEADERSHIP. Washington: National Archives, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, 1946. Wilson Archives. Web. 2 Apr. 2015.
2. Engel, Jeffrey A., Mark Atwood. Lawrence, and Andrew Preston. America in the World: A History in Documents from the War with Spain to the War on Terror. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
2. Engel, Jeffrey A., Mark Atwood. Lawrence, and Andrew Preston. America in the World: A History in Documents from the War with Spain to the War on Terror. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.